Asphalt-surfaced roadways have been built to facilitate vehicular travel. Depending upon usage density, base conditions, temperature variation, moisture variation, and/or physical age, the surface of the roadways can eventually become misshapen, non-planar, unable to support wheel loads, or otherwise unsuitable for vehicular traffic. In order to rehabilitate the roadways for continued vehicular use, spent asphalt is removed in preparation for resurfacing.
Cold planers, sometimes also called road mills or scarifiers, are machines that typically include a frame quadrilaterally supported by tracked or wheeled drive units. The frame supports an engine, an operator's station, and a milling drum. The milling drum, fitted with cutting tools, is rotated through a suitable interface by the engine to break up the surface of the roadway. Thereafter, the milled roadway may be delivered to one or more conveyors of the cold planer that ultimately deliver the milled roadway to a transport vehicle for removal from the worksite.
During the milling process, dust is produced by the cutting tools that may cause undesirable work conditions for the cold planer operator such as impaired visibility. In addition, bituminous vapors may be produced due to high temperature friction of the cutting tools. One attempt to control the dust and vapors produced during roadway milling is disclosed in U.S. Pre-Grant Publication No. US 2014/0015303 (the '303 publication), published on Jan. 16, 2014, and submitted by Denson et al. In particular, the '303 publication discloses an attachable cold planer exhaust system having multiple inlets for receiving dust and fumes generated during the milling process. For example, '303 discloses an inlet manifold downstream of the milling drum and above a primary material conveyor, the inlet manifold including inlet extensions positioned downward from the inlet manifold and to the sides of the primary conveyer. Openings in the inlet extensions draw dust and fumes into the exhaust system from the newly milled asphalt disposed on the primary conveyor. In addition, '303 discloses additional secondary inlet hoses of an exhaust system disposed at the transition area proximate the primary conveyor discharge end and the secondary conveyor charge end. As additional fumes and dust are generated in this transition area, secondary inlet hoses draw such fumes and dust into the exhaust system for delivery downstream to the secondary conveyor housing.
Although the systems of the '303 publication are helpful in controlling dust and fumes generated during the roadway milling process, these systems may still be problematic. For example, the '303 systems are subject to blockages within or clogging of the inlet openings, manifolds, tubes and hoses of the exhaust system. Specifically, in addition to the dust and fumes drawn into the exhaust system, pieces of asphalt or other material may also be inadvertently suctioned into the exhaust system. Such material may result in blockages at the main pickup area of the exhaust system, for example, within the inlet manifold, fittings, tubes or hoses of the exhaust system. Likewise, the continuous evacuation by the system of dust and vapors generated from the milling process of asphalt may result in build-up on the interior walls of the exhaust system inlet manifold, fittings, tubes and hoses. Such blockages and build-up may adversely affect the efficiency and performance of the exhaust system and may potentially damage the components the system, resulting in undesirable work conditions and an increased frequency of work machine maintenance. Moreover, cleaning of the '303 system may require the complete removal of the exhaust system from the cold planer and further disassembly thereof in order to clear its interior of any build-up and/or material blockages.
The cold planer and exhaust system and methods of the present disclosure attempt to overcome one or more of the disadvantages set forth above and/or other disadvantages in the art.